OYSTER-BEDS OF LOUISIANA. 65 



Practically the entire shore of this bay is fringed with oyster-beds, 

 and there is besides a scattering growth around the islands in the 

 middle. In the northeastern part, between Crooked Island and Mud- 

 grass Island, there is a dense bed about f mile long by § mile wide. 

 The oysters on this bed are of good size, single and in clusters, and 

 quite fat, although the flavor at the time of examination was poor, 

 owing to the low salinity of the water. In the northeast corner of 

 Indian Mound Bay, there is another bed of dense growth extending in 

 a northeast and southwest direction for about 1^ miles, with a maxi- 

 mum width of about § mile, and running off westward into a scattered 

 growth of considerable extent. This bed constitutes the largest single 

 body of good oysters in the region covered by the reconnaissance. 

 They grow principally on the mud bottom, in clusters of from 3 to 10, 

 their upper valves being dark with broad coriaceous edges, which 

 usually indicate rapid growth, the lower valves being flinty and sharp- 

 edged. Notwithstanding the denseness of this bed, the oysters are 

 generally fat and in good order, and the flavor is excellent. There is 

 some growth of alga on the clusters here, but it is much less luxuri- 

 ant than on the beds of Karako Bay. Taking into consideration the 

 abundance and character of the oysters on this bed, it is but little 

 frequented by the oystermen, not more than two or three vessels being 

 seen upon it at any time during our visit. South of this bed is another 

 dense body of oysters of somewhat similar character, but smaller in 

 extent. On both beds there is an abundance of young growth and spat. 



Near the middle of the northern part of the bay lies another dense 

 bed, fringing a long, narrow reef exposed at low water. The oysters 

 here are mostly in clusters and covered with a considerable growth of 

 alga, mussels, and barnacles. Most of the other oysters in this bay are 

 more or less scattering, but in the extreme southern part, just north 

 of Catfish Pass, there is a dense bed of good oysters surrounded by a 

 considerable area of more scattered growth. Several vessels were 

 oystering here, and a considerable quantity of oysters is caught late 

 in the season, after the beds of Three-mile Bay and vicinity have 

 become somewhat exhausted. 



North and west sides of Mudgrass Island. — These shores are largely 

 composed of very soft, deep mud, a condition which has a very palpa- 

 ble effect upon the character of many of the oysters, which assume an 

 extremely narrow, elongated form, and grow in inverted pyramidal 

 bunches, the lower members of which are immersed in the mud. On the 

 north shore there are three areas of dense growth. Two of them are 

 situated near the northwestern point of the island, on moderately hard 

 mud, the oysters being large and single or in small clusters, with an 

 abundance of spat attached. The third bed lies in a deep bay near the 

 western end of the north shore, close to the point the oysters being of 

 fair shape and quality, but on the soft bottom which constitutes by far 

 the greater part of the bed they are long, narrow, and sharp-edged as 

 described above. 



F. e. 98 5 



